Tumwater City Council standardizes contracts for department directors  

Contracts are getting standardized for director-level positions in the City of Tumwater. 

The Tumwater City Council authorized a contract template on Tuesday, March 11, that Mayor Debbie Sullivan would use to sign the employment agreement of current and future department directors. 

Three out of 10 director positions do not have a contract with the city, according to City Administrator Lisa Parks.

The three directors lead the parks and recreation department, the community development department, and the new IT department whose director has not yet been hired.  

As for the seven other directors who already have their own contracts, Parks said their contracts would be replaced but with mostly minor updates. 

Parks explained that they took up this project as the city wanted to ensure all directors got their own contracts. Staff organized the effort to also address differences among the contracts. 

A standardized contract may make the position more appealing for applicants, as the city may not always be able to pay the same wage of comparable communities, Parks said. 

The administrator also highlighted some substantive changes that will be incorporated into the existing contracts.

One is the updated contract emphasizes that the director will retain the position for an indefinite term, but with no guaranteed tenure. 

The severance pay of the directors was also updated so it would be consistently six months of pay. The severance pay had ranged from two to six months before. Parks noted that six months would be consistent with the severance pay she gets in her contract as well. 

Asked by council members what prompted this effort, Parks clarified that standardization of the contract was not a union request as the department directors are not unionized.  

Parks and Mayor Debbie Sullivan instead noted the two non-contract directors are held by longtime staffers that have been with the city for around 30 years.